Vin 537 - found!

[Nicholas R]

I believe the new owner is well off the radar.

Is that the same person that almost bought Proto 1 when it was on eBay a few years ago?

[Tillsy]

I believe the new owner is well off the radar.

So it IS in New Zealand then

[nick sutton]

For your interest the early 500 cars were built with hand lay GRP engine covers, rear louvers and hood cruciform. The production tooling for these parts were not complete until Feb 1981 so in the meantime Lotus Cars fabricated these parts at Hethel and shipped them over to Dunmurry. That's why they look different.
Nick Sutton

[Shep]

$80,000 to restore this car??? That's insane. The most experienced, knowledgeable, Delorean mechanic in the world (Rob Grady) would have it back to concourse for $55,000 or less.

I'm sorry, but I'm calling shenanigans on this. If you want to buy it, get it running, and flip it, be my guest, but $55,000 is waaaay short when you factor in missing parts, labor, etc. And if you mean he would fix it up himself in his spare time, well, what spare time? It would take several years to get it back on the road since customer cars come first. We pay him to do the work on our cars, but who pays him to work on his own cars?

If you want to send me a bill for an $55,000 restoration broken down by part and hour, I may change my mind and take you up on a partial resto. Until then, I talked to DPI Josh, and he's the one that gave me the $80,000 number. Speaking from experience, I had 559 restored for about $50,000 to $60,000 there, and that didn't factor in the interior at all, just the drivetrain. Parts (and labor too) have increased in cost over the last few years, so you'd be hard-pressed to find all the right parts alone for $50,000

For your interest the early 500 cars were built with hand lay GRP engine covers, rear louvers and hood cruciform. The production tooling for these parts were not complete until Feb 1981 so in the meantime Lotus Cars fabricated these parts at Hethel and shipped them over to Dunmurry. That's why they look different.
Nick Sutton

Thanks for the info Nick! Interesting, so it wasn't laziness on the production worker's part that the underside was white (like I had always thought), it's just a different source entirely. Good to know!

[Delorean02378]

Made an offer on the car yesterday and received a reply today stating that this car has been sold. Hopefully it's someone on the forum that will update us on the restoration.

[Andrew]

IMO It would not take 80K to turn that car into a running driving Delorean. Assuming a 10K purchase price, it could be a running driving car that passes the 10 foot test for another 10K. That assumes the new owner doing the work him/herself, fixing parts that can be fixed and being resourceful in buying used parts (including parts with some degree of acceptable defects such as headlight eyebrows, or a dinged t-panel & LR quarter.)

However, if you want a car that passes the microscope test and produces 250+ HP without getting your hands dirty in the process, the sky's the limit on cost. It really all depends on what you want and how much you're willing to do yourself. Less than 48 hours ago I put about 20 miles on my Delorean that I purchased July 15, 2014 and I have less than 1/10 of $80K into it. After less than another $500 in parts it will "done." I'll be taking it on a 1,000 plus mile road trip next year to celebrate.

Andrew
4194
5052

[Dangermouse]

I understand that this car is on its way to England.

[kbrown84]

i just happen to have a drivers rear quarter panel and front fascia for sale still!! ;-)
KB

[Chris Nicholson]

Hi all

Just caught up with this thread, any news on this car coming to England? It would be great to help the owner restore it, and great chance for me to compare her to 530, with the refurbishment finally underway.

As for the estimate on the repair for this car, you can restore 537 for under $50,000 easily. Projects like these are rare, which means buying new parts are not always the way to go to restore them correctly, i know there are some missing parts, Buying second hand parts from any of the delorean shops across the world is another way to go. Rob at PJ Grady has a ton of parts that could save a lot of money in a resto like this one. If i was not restoring Pilot 19, and 530, i would have taken it on, I admit labour would not be a factor lol

Best wishes!

Chris Nicholson
PJ Grady Europe

[Dangermouse]

00537 resurfaces in England, as it was at BHCC and now with a £18000/$27700 price tag

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131856653636

the usual English understatement "Some mechanical and cosmetic work needed (see photos)"